Mathematical platonism and the causal relevance of abstracta

Mathematical platonism and the causal relevance of abstracta

Many mathematicians are platonists: they believe that the axioms of mathematics are true because they express the structure of a nonspatiotemporal, mind independent, realm. But platonism is plagued by a philosophical worry: it is unclear how we could have knowledge of an abstract, realm, unclear how...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Synthese (Dordrecht) Vol. 200; no. 6; p. 494
Main Author: Montero, Barbara Gail
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 21-11-2022
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Causality
Education
Epistemology
Knowledge
Logic
Mathematics
Metaphysics
Original Research
Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Science
Alvin Goodman
Abstract entities
Platonism
Causation
Counterpossibilities
Mathematics
Benacerraf
Knowledge
Hartry Field
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Many mathematicians are platonists: they believe that the axioms of mathematics are true because they express the structure of a nonspatiotemporal, mind independent, realm. But platonism is plagued by a philosophical worry: it is unclear how we could have knowledge of an abstract, realm, unclear how nonspatiotemporal objects could causally affect our spatiotemporal cognitive faculties. Here I aim to make room in our metaphysical picture of the world for the causal relevance of abstracta.
ISSN:1573-0964
0039-7857
1573-0964
DOI:10.1007/s11229-022-03962-x